PSN restart not allowed in Japan until Sony proves it's safe

Sony started to re-launch its PlayStation Network service over the weekend in the U.S. and other parts of the globe, following a three-week outage resulting from the hacking of the network by unknown individuals. Although the company didn't say when it expected to bring the service back to players in its home country or other Asian countries, today a Japanese government official has come forward and said it won't allow Sony to launch PlayStation Network within its borders until it proves that it has followed through with preventative measures against future attacks.

Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires yesterday, Kazushige Nobutani, Japan's director of media and content in the country's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, said that as of May 13 "Sony was incomplete in exercising measures that they said they will do on the May 1 press conference." He didn't comment on which measures were lacking, but it's certainly a blow to the company as it tries to convince people that it will be safe to use the network now.

Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kazuo Hirai offered a video statement announcing the restoration of PSN services, highlighting the increased security and offering an apology to users for the outage. The restoration of PSN service requires a firmware update on PS3 consoles (version 6.61), after which users will need to change their passwords.

Sony also recently disclosed how its users would be compensated for the recent outage, including gaming perks and free ID theft protection. Moving forward the company will focus its attention on finding those responsible for the security breach, responding to legal inquiries from governments around the world, and getting PSN approved in Japan.